Understanding unlimited bandwidth

Don’t get fooled by advertisements offering ‘unlimited bandwidth’. Mostly, companies that offer ‘unlimited bandwidth’ have restrictions placed on their bandwidth – but don’t advertise them. They probably have the restrictions detailed in some sub-clause in their agreement. It is always a good idea to first check what their policies are. You don’t want a fat bill coming your way after you’ve already planned how to spend the money, do you?

This is a guide to understanding ‘unlimited bandwidth’.

Webhosting is a commodity, and the main elements are disk space and bandwidth. Network lines that carry data around the web have a finite capacity which means web pages consume finite disk space and bandwidth. Also, the hard drive of a web server has a limited amount of space determined by the physical size of the hard drive. Seeing all of these factors, you now know that unlimited disk space/bandwidth in just a dream.

The reason that ‘unlimited’ sounds so attractive, obviously, is because if it’s unlimited, then you assume that you won’t have to worry anymore about the disk space/bandwidth you’re using.

Now here’s the assumption web hosting companies work on – most websites only use a small amount of bandwidth. They assume that offering unlimited bandwidth is a safe bet, because for the most part, websites don’t exceed a certain amount of bandwidth.

If you think your website will progress to an extent where you will require ‘unlimited’ bandwidth, make sure to check in the company’s Terms of Service – there will be a specification there about what exactly unlimited bandwidth means.

If you have a small website, with not too much audio or video uploads, then the so-called unlimited option works for you. Most companies don’t allow audio/video uploads on a package with unlimited bandwidth because audio/video uploads consume significant amounts of bandwidth, which costs the host money.

On the other hand, if you intend to have lots of visitors, downloads, uploads, and audio/video files, then first calculate how much bandwidth and disk space you will need. This simple calculation should help you:

Average Daily Visitors: The total number of monthly visitors divides by 30.
Average Page Size: The average size of your web page.
Average Page Views: The average page viewed per visitors.
Average File Size: The total file size divided to the number of files.
Redundant Factor: A safety factor ranged from 1.3 – 1.8.

If you don’t have downloads, or audio/video uploads, then you can just omit [+ (Average Download per day x Average File Size) ]

Another easy way to calculate bandwidth is through this website: http://easycalculation.com/bandwidth-calculator.php.

Just calculate how much bandwidth you will need, and look for plans that suit your requirements. Remember – you can always buy more bandwidth, if you need, for only a few extra dollars. Find plans that meet these requirements, and you should be on the safe side of unlimited bandwidth!

Hiren Gohel is the one of passionate freelance writer. He loves to write on different topics. These days he is writing on how to find reliable web hosting in India .